Farmers in Mali adopt soil and water conservation measures to offset the effects of climate change on agriculture. A study examined the effectiveness of these measures in different farming systems. It found that zai (planting holes) was the most commonly used measure. Adoption rates varied by farming system, with mixed farmers more likely to adopt. The main barriers to adoption were lack of finances and labor. Both male- and female-headed households cited these as top constraints.

1. Soil and water conservation measures are critical to
offsetting the impact of climate change on agriculture in
sub-Saharan countries.
The effectiveness of such measures in differing farming
systems has been examined under a USAID Global Climate
Change (GCC) project, in the Mopti region of Mali, that
aims to address farmers and community perceptions
of causes and effects of climate change and barriers to
adoption of the resilient practices paying special attention
to gender and farming systems in the region.
Climate change remains a major development challenge
in developing countries, particularly in the sub-Saharan
economies, including Mali, where the majority of
the population resides in the rural areas and derives
livelihoods directly from the agricultural sector. Sustained
livelihood improvements in many of the rural communities
will require implementation of inclusive interventions that
promote adaptation of the agricultural sector. Formulation
of robust policy interventions and programs thus requires
a better understanding of how male and female farmers
adapt to the changing climatic condition, evaluation of
implemented intervention practices, and their perceived
effects of climate change and the barriers to climate
adaptation strategies.
Three farming systems – those for rice, cereals and mixed
farming – were considered for the study according to the
main crops grown by the farmers. Data were collected
from 297 farmer households, 16 NGOs and 11 focus
group discussions (FGDs) from 11 villages. The sample of
individual households comprised 13% female- and 87%
male-headed households, a proportional representation of
the actual heads of households in the region.
SWC measures are the most critical entry points for
improving land resource resilience and productivity. SWC
measures maintain long-term productivity and ecosystem
functions (land, water and biodiversity) and increase
productivity (quality, quantity and diversity) of goods and
services (including safe and healthy food).
In the studied villages at least one soil and water
conservation technology was implemented by more
Farmers in Mali adopt soil
and water conservation measures
to offset climate change
than half of the farmers. However the rate of adoption
of the individual measures is generally low. Zai (planting
holes) was the most common SWC measure used by the
households (43%). The likelihood of adoption of any of the
other SWC measures is less than 25% (Table 4). The low
uptake of SWC measures may hamper farmer households
from achieving sustainable resilience to climate change.
Significant variations in adoption of most of the SWC
measures were found in the farming systems; with the
exception of vegetative filter barriers, contour bunding
and wells. The results also showed more adopters of the
SWC measures in the mixed farming system compared
to the rice and cereals systems. For example, about 69%
of farmers residing in the mixed farming system used
zai compared to only 34% and 32% of those residing
in the cereals and rice farming systems, respectively.
About 35% of farmers in the mixed system used artificial
ponds relative to only 16% of the users in the cereals
system. There are no gender differences in adoption of
the soil and water conservation measures in the region.
However, the proportion of female adopters of SWC
measures is slightly higher than male adopters, except
for zai (Table 5).
Analyzed results further indicated farmers noting diverse
constraints to SWC with the most popular including lack
of finances (cited by 29.5%) and limited labor (28%)
(Table 6). Comparable proportions of male- and female-
headed households cited financial and labor constraints
as the main barriers to using SWC practices (Figure
7). Adoption of capital and labor intensive adaptation
technologies like that of SWC practices remain low in
both male- and female-headed households in the studied
villages. The results generally show comparable adaptation
behavior between the households headed by males and
those headed by females – except for a few adaptation
methods dominated by male farmers.
SWC are labor intensive and many of them may also
require substantial amounts of capital investment. Many
farmer households are resource poor and may not
afford to purchase these technologies. In addition, the
opportunity cost of time investment in some of the labor-
intensive SWC measures appears to be quite high for both
youth and adults. As a result many people in the region,

2. especially youth, migrate to urban areas and gold mines
where the returns are more certain than in farming, thus
reducing labor supply to the agricultural sector.
Other constraints noted by farmers include limited land
rights since most of the land in the region is communally
owned, and agro-ecological factors including soil and water
attributes. These barriers were more markedly noted by
farmers in the mixed farming system.
Table 4. Soil and water
conservation practices in
Mopti region by farming
system
Note: Standard deviations in parentheses;
Common superscripts in rows indicate
equal mean values
%offarmers
Barrier
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Workforce Land
tenure
Official
regulations
Plant
characteristics
Soil
characteristics
Hydraulic
characteristics
Financial
means
SWC measure
(1=used, 0=No)
All
households
Rice
system
Cereal
system
Mixed
system F-value P-value
Zai 0.42
(0.49)
0.24a
(0.43)
0.34a
(0.48)
0.69b
(0.47)
19.88 0.0000
Artificial ponds 0.23
(0.42)
0.22ab
(0.42)
0.16a
(0.37)
0.35b
(0.48)
5.64 0.0040
Vegetative barriers 0.23
(0.42)
0.22a
(0.42)
0.20a
(0.40)
0.30a
(0.46)
1.51 0.2231
Contour bunding 0.23
(0.42)
0.22a
(0.42)
0.19a
(0.40)
0.30a
(0.46)
1.73 0.1786
Wells 0.23
(0.42)
0.22a
(0.42)
0.19a
(0.39)
0.30a
(0.46)
1.99 0.1393
Stone bund 0.21
(0.41)
0.24a
(0.43)
0.14a
(0.34)
0.33b
(0.47)
5.93 0.0030
Dams and dykes 0.20
(0.40)
0.24a
(0.43)
0.13a
(0.34)
0.30b
(0.46)
5.28 0.0056
Dug gullies 0.20
(0.40)
0.22a
(0.42)
0.14a
(0.34)
0.29b
(0.46)
4.06 0.0183
Figure 7. Main barriers to adoption of
water and soil conservation practices
All households
Male-headed households
Female-headed households
41
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3. Table 6. Barriers to adoption of
SWC measures, by farming system
Barrier
All households Rice system Dry System Mixed system
n % n % n % n %
Lack of financial capital 83 29.5 11 26.8 50 35.7 50 60.2
Labor constraints 79 28.1 11 26.8 38 27.1 38 45.8
Hydraulic characteristics 35 12.5 3 7.3 25 17.9 25 30.1
Plant characteristics 30 10.7 4 9.8 21 15.0 21 25.3
Land tenure 14 5.0 1 2.4 10 7.1 10 12.0
Soil characteristics 11 3.9 - - 9 6.4 9 10.8
Official regulations 3 1.1 1 2.4 2 1.4 2 2.4
SWC measure
Male headed
(n=244)
Female headed
(n=37) T-statistic P-value
Zai
0.43
(0.50)
0.35
(0.48)
-0.95 0.34
Artificial ponds
0.23
(0.42)
0.24
(0.43)
0.24 0.81
Vegetative barriers
0.23
(0.42)
0.27
(0.45)
0.54 0.54
Ridges
0.23
(0.42)
0.24
(0.43)
0.18 0.18
Wells
0.23
(0.42)
0.24
(0.43)
1.08 0.28
Irrigated fields
0.22
(0.41)
0.30
(0.46)
-1.46 0.15
Stony bund
0.21
(0.41)
0.24
(0.43)
0.47 0.63
Dams and dykes
0.20
(0.40)
0.24
(0.43)
0.65 0.51
Use of improved land
preparation techniques
0.22
(0.41)
0.14
(0.35)
-1.14 0.25
Dug gullies
0.19
(0.40)
0.24
(0.43)
0.72 0.47
Table 5. Soil and water
conservation measures,
by gender
Note: Standard deviations in parentheses